CCR submission to the 2004 pre-budget consultations

The Consortium believes that a research intensive economy will provide Canadians with the best quality of life and the highest possible standard of living. We also believe that achieving this success depends on an accessible and high-quality post-secondary education system and a strong research sector.
The recent reports of the Standing Committee on Finance, and their emphasis on the need to invest to strengthen our knowledge-based society, have been applauded by the Consortium and its members. In this brief, the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR) is seeking to underline several issues regarding post-secondary education and advanced research so that the progress begun by the Government of Canada in 1996 is continued. These issues are the following:
– That the Government of Canada continue to increase research activity in all sectors so that we meet the needs of Canadians and keep pace with our international competitors.
– That the Government of Canada pay particular attention to the social sciences and humanities, where there is presently an opportunity to advance Canada’s existing leadership in these fields, and in order to effectively invest in this chronically underfunded sector of research.
– That the Government of Canada move to quickly redress the question of core support for all Canadian universities by developing a pan-Canadian mechanism that ensures adequate, accountable and transparent funding support.